Byron
RichardsThe tactics are straight out of the terrorist textbook. A wave
of suicide bombers hits the front-line defensive fortifications. Most
of this first wave blows holes in the defensive barriers and leaves
a battlefield of inflammatory damage and debris. Some of these first
wave terrorists hijack important communication systems relating to the
natural defense mechanisms. If these defense mechanisms fail, invasion
of the body is certain. Rather than that, the defense mechanisms, faced
with impending doom, are forced to allow an inflammatory diarrhea response.
But wait, the second wave of the terrorist attack is now under way.
They are taking advantage of the damaged battlefield of the first wave
of attack. They are armed with highly toxic chemical weapons, the type
that is banned from “humane warfare.” Welcome to the world
of infectious E. coli. And in Germany, welcome to the world
of superbug infectious E. coli – resistant to antibiotics
and armed with some of the most devastating toxins ever known.

The
German public is the first to be attacked by a large-scale outbreak,
but this type of E. coli problem already exists in the United
States. Do you have the confidence and skill to prevent this enemy from
taking root in you or defeating it if it does? Even the most infectious
E. coli may not be able to cause any problems if you have a
competent defense system that can fend off the attack. The determining
factors are the current balance of bacterial powers within your digestive
tract, the amount of existing inflammation within your digestive tract,
the amount of stress you are under, the ability of natural factors to
disrupt quorum sensing, and your ability to bolster your gut barrier.

E.
coli 101

E.
coli was discovered in 1885 by the German physician Theodor Escherich,
thus its name Escherichia coli (E. coli). E. coli
is a normal inhabitant of your colon, part of the natural balance of
foreign bacteria that make up an ecological rainforest with diverse
and important roles for human health. Under healthy circumstances E.
coli is a friendly farmer toiling in the fields, helping to recycle
trash and actually assisting in the healthy balance of GI tract bacteria.
The human genome relies on the genomic work of bacteria for many substrates
of compounds required for human health, including the contributions
made by friendly E. coli.

E.
coli is very good at gene swapping, which sometimes leads to the
acquisition of virulence factors that are highly toxic and pathogenic
to the human host. In these circumstances E. coli adopts a
germ gang formation (biofilm), which means a single bacteria is now
part of a team that has nothing good on its mind. Their activities are
coordinated by molecular signals which are referred to as quorum-sensing
molecules. Quorum-sensing molecules are essentially a communication
system that is encouraging a coordinated attack.

E.
coli is rod shaped and many have filament projections (flagella)
that allow them to move around and stick to human cells. Once infectious
E. coli stick to a human cell they can inject toxins and other
virulence factors into the human cell, such as an epithelial cell that
lines your digestive tract or urinary tract. Virulence factors are trying
to hijack or kill the human cell. They cause disruption of the cell
membrane, which enables the bacteria to gain entry into the human cell
while causing water loss from the human cell and preventing it from
reacquiring water – which is what triggers diarrhea. Once inside
the human cell they gain protection from the immune system, set up shop
in a protected structure within the cell (vacuole), replicate as a parasite
on the nutrients in the cell, as well as hijack the communication system
of the human defense mechanisms and begin turning it to their advantage.

Highly
pathogenic E. coli readily stick to and invade epithelial cells
of the digestive or urinary tract lining. Pathogenic E. coli
superstrains have many tricks up their sleeves. They can hijack
the macrophages of your immune system, replicate inside them without
detection by your immune system, and induce your macrophages to inappropriately
secrete large amounts of inflammatory TNFa. In other words, not only
are they highly toxic in and of themselves, they can turn your own immune
system into part of their toxic team.

E.
coli is a member of a large family of bacteria called enterobacteriaceae.
Infectious
Salmonella is also a member of this family, which uses many similar
mechanisms as pathogenic E. coli to attack the human host.
Thus, studies on Salmonella infection are highly relevant to E.
coli. Scientists are just beginning to unravel the molecular complexity
of what is going on with these infectious
bacteria.

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Your
first line of natural defense is to prevent E. coli from colonizing
too many of your human cells. If that happens, then you must also prevent
them from multiplying. And finally, you absolutely must prevent them
from breaching your gut barrier and entering your body, as that can
be a life-threatening situation requiring urgent medical treatment (as
is currently seen in Germany). The current German E. coli outbreak
is a superstrain
of E. coli that is resistant to antibiotics, has two powerful
toxins, and can attack red blood cells causing them to die. This results
in the hemolytic-uremic syndrome which can cause severe anemia and kidney
failure – potentially life-threatening.

The
United States is Already Under Attack

While
the story in Germany is getting everyone’s attention, the problem
already exists in the United States and experts at our Centers
for Disease Control (CDC) are very concerned. There are many different
kinds of E. coli. In the past, most dangerous infections came
from a type known as O157:H7, which produces the Shiga toxin that destroys
red blood cells leading to anemia and kidney failure. Efforts to control
this strain in the food supply, typically by feeding antibiotics to
farm animals, has led to new pathogenic strains that the experts call
“non-O157” types.

“For
a number of years, almost all of the strains of this kind of E.
coli [highly infectious] were that O157:H7,” says Michael
Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and
Policy at the University of Minnesota. “Over the past 15 years,
we’ve seen a very sizable increase in the number of non-O157:H7
strains.”

The
E. coli strain in Germany is the new kid on the block, referred
to as O104:H4. Our CDC first identified this strain two years ago in
Eastern Europe. Experts are concerned because this strain is harder
for them to identify and it is clearly on the rise in the U.S., along
with many other potentially infectious non-O157 types.

The
outbreak in Germany has over 2700 documented cases, 600 cases of kidney
failure, and 25 deaths so far. It is getting attention because it is
one large outbreak. However, U.S. health officials estimate that at
least 100,000 Americans suffer infectious E. coli attacks each
year, causing thousands of hospitalizations and around 80 deaths per
year. The problem in the U.S. is already larger than the German problem
– it is just more isolated in terms of a rapid outbreak. Over
half of these serious E. coli food poisoning problems in the
U.S. are now the non-OH157 types that include the O104:H4, which is
why alarm bells are quietly going off at our CDC.

Furthermore,
many Americans have high levels of infectious E. coli that are causing
major health problems but are not classified as a food poisoning situation.
It is now known that up to 87%
of patients with Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and
irritable bowel syndrome have higher-than-normal levels of infectious
E. coli and that in over 1/3 of these cases it is some of the most pathogenic
E. coli that is causing or contributing to their problems.

Anyone
with diarrhea on a short-term basis should be thinking E. coli attack.
Anyone prone to ongoing diarrhea, even if it comes and goes or alternates
with constipation, should be thinking that they have an ongoing battle
with infectious E. coli that has set up shop in their colon.
While this may not always be the case, the odds are that infectious
E. coli or one of its cousins is involved.

E.
coli’s interaction with the human host, both as friend and
foe, has been going on for millions of years. As scary as E. coli
may sound, the human defense system has to be better otherwise we as
a race would not have survived. There is no point living in fear of
E. coli, as the fear-related hormones actually help it spread.
There is a point in minimizing your risks and understanding what you
can do if you are under an attack or have an ongoing lower-grade problem
that is interfering with your quality of digestive health.

Basic
Precautions

There
are many basic precautions that are common sense. Some of these are
widely promoted by public health officials and others are ignored completely
by public health officials – for fear of implicating groups like
the AMA and doctors who are actively contributing to infectious E.
coli risk.

Hygiene
is important, especially for workers in the food industry. The failure
to wash hands thoroughly after going to the bathroom can readily pass
along infectious E. coli. Such contamination could occur at
any point in the food production and distribution process – which
is why tracking down a major outbreak is such a difficult proposition.

Dairy
and beef cattle, as well as pigs, are major sources for potential E.
coli issues. This problem has been made far worse by the use of
antibiotics to “prevent” E. coli infection in these
animals. E. coli rapidly mutates in response to antibiotics,
so it is not at all surprising that new strains of E. coli
are antibiotic resistant. Furthermore, E. coli is so good at
gene swapping that it helps other bacteria, like Staphylococcus, gain
antibiotic resistance. This is why the meat
in our food supply, from these factory farms that raise unhealthy
animals, has set the stage for a future of food poisoning outbreaks.
I wouldn’t buy meat of this type, although it makes up the majority
of meat in the U.S. food supply. Obviously, such poor-quality meat should
be fully cooked.

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The
vegetables most commonly associated with outbreaks of E. coli
are sprouts, cucumbers, and spinach. In general, all vegetables should
be washed thoroughly and many people may choose to use some form of
disinfectant as a soak or wash.

The medical profession, with its rampant over-use of antibiotics, has
clearly helped produce antibiotic-resistant
strains of E. coli and other superbugs. Additionally, even
one or two courses
of antibiotics can alter the digestive balance of power wherein
undesirable strains of unfriendly bacteria begin to dominate the landscape
of your digestive terrain – a problem that can go on for years.
This is a different problem that antibiotic resistance. It is a very
dangerous alteration of the ecological rainforest that should comprise
digestive health. The blame falls squarely on the AMA and doctors, who
ironically are the very people you are forced to turn to if you have
a severe E. coli attack. Use antibiotics only as a last resort.
For part two click below.

Byron
J. Richards, Board-Certified Clinical Nutritionist, nationally-renowned
nutrition
expert, and founder of Wellness
Resources is a leader in advocating the value of dietary
supplements as a vital tool to maintain health. He is an outspoken
critic of government and Big Pharma efforts to deny access to natural
health products and has written extensively on the life-shortening and
health-damaging failures of the sickness
industry.

The German public
is the first to be attacked by a large-scale outbreak, but this type of
E. coli problem already exists in the United States. Do you have
the confidence and skill to prevent this enemy from taking root in you
or defeating it if it does?